Football Team
by readingwriter01
Summary: The Glee girls join the football team to fill the necessary spots, but Rachel, in hopes of helping the guys, picks up the ball when it is fumbled by the opposing team and is tackled. Sam is not pleased. At all. Est. Ram Rach/Sam  Prompt by ashley1985.


Football Team

Summary: The glee girls join the football team to fill in the necessary spots, but Rachel, in hopes of helping the guys, picks up the ball when it is dropped and is tackled by an opposing football player. Sam is not pleased. Est. Ram(Rachel/Sam) Prompt by: ashley1985

Background: Sam and Rachel started dating shortly after Sectionals. Sam found out about Quinn's vicious streak, which included throwing slushies at the losers and paying football and hockey players to harass Rachel. He had always held a soft spot for Rachel, and couldn't understand why Quinn, who had been helped by Rachel more than once, was so mean to her. The last straw was when Sam encountered a slushied Rachel being harassed by some hockey Neanderthal. Sam received another black eye because he defended her, but it also opened his eyes to the fact that Quinn wasn't the sweet girl she pretended to be and this allowed him to spend time with Rachel, eventually starting to date, only after Puck had threatened him. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own glee! :( And I also did not come up with Sam's nickname for Rachel, I read that in someone's fic, but I can't remember whose, so if it's yours, let me know so I can give you credit.

Blaine, Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel grabbed their coffees and sat down at an empty table, Kurt and Blaine talking a about the song they had been rehearsing.

"I don't wanna sound cocky or anything, but you guys better be pulling out all the stops for regional's, because the number we just rehearsed is so off the hook, it's dangerous," commented Blaine, taking his medium-drip from Kurt.

"Seriously, people should wear protective headgear when they're watching it," laughed Kurt. Mercedes and Rachel looked at each other glumly, "Guys, we're kidding."

"Yea, well it's just hard to laugh right now with everything going on at McKinley," said Rachel.

Mercedes sighed, "I mean look at us, the stars of two rival show choirs sitting down to coffee, our school is so messed up we can't even keep our own football team together."

Rachel frowned, "It's so sad, you guys, Coach Beiste and Mr. Schue are so close to getting everyone at this school together."

Kurt looked confused, "Why hasn't Finn told me anything about this? I mean, we _live_ together. I bring him a glass of warm milk every night in hopes that we'll have a little lady-chat." Mercedes laughed.

"Warm milk?" said Blaine, amusement clear on his face, "Really?"

"It's delicious," replied Kurt, holding up his coffee cup.

"Finn's too proud to complain," said Rachel, rolling her eyes, "He feels like he has to be strong for everyone but I know it's just killing him inside."

"How are the guys taking it?" asked Kurt.

"Bad," she sighed, "But I've found that _Avatar_ and a bowl of gummy bears really brings Sam's mood up, but I wish there was something else I could do to help."

"The other guys are just as bummed," added Mercedes, "They already suffer enough abuse by just being in the glee club. I really think winning the game could ease the pressure, at least for a little while."

Blaine looked up, "Wait, so the whole team quit?"

Mercedes nodded, "At least everyone not in glee. But you can't play football with five guys, and one of them is in a wheelchair."

"Yea, Coach Beiste put up a sign up form, I think they'll take anyone at this point."

"Well, the good news is you only actually need four more guys," said Blaine. Rachel looked at him over her coffee cup, "High School regulations actually let you play a couple guys short if you want to." Rachel and Mercedes looked at each other, hope shining in their eyes. "But if you guys find a way to make it work, you can bet that we'll definitely be there to cheer them on," Blaine smiled kindly.

"Oh! Totally, Blaine and I love football," said Kurt. "Well," he amended, "Blaine loves football. I love scarves." Blaine laughed.

*Glee*

"Why can't we let them back on the team just for this game?" asked Sam. The glee club was meeting in the choir room. Rachel squeezed Sam's hand and he smiled at her.

"No," replied Coach Beiste, "We carry this thing through, even if it means having to forfeit the game."

"I can't believe this is it," said Finn. Mercedes looked to Rachel, they nodded at each other.

"Maybe it isn't," chirped Rachel. Sam looked at his girlfriend in confusion. She simply stood up at stood at attention at the front of the room. "We wanna join the team." Sam's eyes widened, Finn leaned his forehead on his hand, and Artie just looked confused.

"We who?" Artie asked.

"All of us glee girls," responded Mercedes, standing up. Tina and Lauren followed her and the four stood at the front. Mr. Schue looked even more confused than Artie had previously. "We wanna join the football team, and we wanna play in the championship."

"We've thought about this, we even asked our parents for permission, which after much convincing they agreed to," added Tina, "They understood how important this is to us." She handed Mr. Schue the four permission slips.

Puck looked at her dubiously, "I don't think you guys get it, when they tackle, it hurts, and not in the good Mellencamp way."

"But, we wouldn't _really_ play, you guys just need enough players to field a regulation game, so when they snap the ball, we're just gonna lie there on the ground. We're just gonna lie there," said Rachel, Sam looking at her adoringly.

"Well, I'm not," interrupted Lauren, "I'm gonna bring the _pain_."

"I guess," started Coach Beiste, "they won't get hurt if they just stay down." Finn looked shocked, then hopeful.

"What are you thinking coach?" asked Mr. Schue.

"I think," she said, "Welcome to the football team."

"Yes!" the girls shouted. The guys jumped up out of their seats and ran up to the front. Sam picked Rachel up and spun her around, all while she and Tina were chanting: "Football team! Football Team!"

*Glee*

Rachel and Sam were sitting together in Rachel's living room, watching _Star Trek_. Rachel's dads were out on a date night and Sam had decided to keep Rachel company. Between gummy bear wars and cuddling, the couple talked about Rachel's decision to join the team.

"I'm a bit concerned, Raspberry," said Sam, "I know you'll be on the ground, but what if they step on you?"

"Hmm," she looked up, "I hadn't thought about that, maybe we should just run in the opposite direction, that way we'll be out of the way for sure."

"That would make me feel better," he replied, pulling her closer.

Rachel smiled at him and lay her head on his chest. He always made her feel safe and loved, which was a big change from the insecurity and self-hatred that Finn used to induce. Sam loved being around his girlfriend, she didn't make fun of his dorkiness and was almost as much of an Avatar fan as he was. They felt happy and loved, making the other person feel better. It was the type of relationship people aspire to find.

*Glee*

The game was in full swing, the McKinley team had managed to score a few points, but they were being beaten badly. So far, not one of the girls had gotten hurt, much to the relief of their parents and friends. The cheerleaders were gone and the team was losing hope.

It all changed when the opposite team fumbled the ball. The guys and Lauren were doing a great job of keeping the other team away, but neither Tina nor Mercedes saw where the ball had landed. Rachel had. It was two feet from her.

The small diva swooped it up into her chest and ran for it. Adrenaline was pumping and Rachel barely registered the hysterical cheering from the stands. All she was thinking about was how proud this would make Sam.

She was so close. The in zone was literally five feet from her when she was tackled. She let out a shriek on her way down and was crushed by the huge football player. Silence.

Time seemed to slow as Sam pushed everyone out of his way frantically and made his way to his girlfriend. He could only think of the small yell she had let out and how that Neanderthal was hurting her.

Puck was no better. This was his best friend, laying face down on the football field with some idiotic football player on top of her. Puck and Sam shoved the other player off the tiny girl none too gently in two seconds flat. The fans were holding their breath.

Sam tenderly and carefully turned his girlfriend on her back. Rachel's eyes were closed and her brow was furrowed. She was pouting and a single tear leaked from her eye.

"Did we win?" She whispered, opening her eyes. Sam and Puck sighed in relief. She was ok.

Sam smiled, straining to not freak out, "No, Raspberry, but we got closer."

*Glee*

Finn had convinced the cheerleaders to come back, which really didn't help. At all. Things started looking up after Puck convinced the rest of the team to perform in the halftime show and subsequently play in the game. The other team didn't know what hit them. Rachel and the girls sat on the sidelines, cheering and laughing along with the fans.

Sam was relieved that Rachel was able to walk off the field with nothing but a couple of bruises. It had taken the combined effort of Finn, Mike, and Puck to stop him from beating the football player who had landed on Rachel. Of course, since Puck wanted to beat the guy as well, he was more of a hindrance than help to Mike and Finn.

And even then, it wasn't working. Sam badly wanted to just jump on the guy and beat him with a baseball bat. The raged fueled adrenaline helped during the game and encouraged the other guys to try harder.

The McKinley team won, after some intimidation by the crowd, the girls, and the team groaning out "Brains!" The Glee guys whooped and hollered and thanked the girls profusely. Sam lifted Rachel on his shoulder and yelled happily.

But then, the unfortunate football player who had tackled Rachel, #15, walked by. All hell broke loose as Puck launched himself at the fool. Rachel yelled out, "NOAH! STOP right NOW!"

Puck looked up, "What," he said calmly, "I'm not doing anything."

Rachel raised an eyebrow and shot him her famous Berry-Glare. Puck pouted childishly but released the kid and walked back to them. Sam and Puck pounded fists and laughed as Rachel went into a five minute rant about violence.

"_She's ok_," thought Sam happily.


End file.
